Fading Respectability
by ERidg17
Summary: Elle Baggins has always longed for adventure, no matter how hidden and disfigured that longing is now. But Gandalf recognizes it in her, buried within her warm brown eyes. Her Tookishness is only hidden behind the mask of respectability that she wears, he reasons. There just needs a reason for it to surface again. Gandalf thinks he's found it.
1. In The Beginning

Elle Baggins is an entirely ordinary hobbit. Well, not so normal as hobbit as to be called ordinary, but certainly not so strange as to be called unordinary. Like all other hobbits, she enjoys the warm comforts of food, friends, family and a good book. In other words, the familiarity of home. But Elle is also a Took, and that means mud and dirt and grass stains and tangled hair. In other words, adventures.

Her mother was the famous - or infamous, depending on how you look at it - Belladonna Took, the lass you'd be likely to see tromping around in the woods as a child. Her father was the sturdy, stable Bungo Baggins of Bag-End.

Baggins and Took made a wonderful combination, as Elle so often proved as a child. She'd leave early in the morning and come home at dusk, covered from head to toe in dried mud and dirt. Her mother encouraged such behavior, and her father looked on with loving worry, tending to her injuries and untangling her hair as best he could. She was stubborn as a mule, yet one of the loyalist hobbits in all the shire. She was sweet but fierce, nervous yet confident, lovely and brave.

Her childhood ended quite suddenly, Belladonna lost to the cold, dark winter that crept upon them. Hobbits had always been finely attuned to the changing of the seasons and weather, of the richness of soil and the ripeness of fruits. Anything to do with nature they noticed, like a subtle poke in the back of their mind, that they noticed but paid no attention to.

Her mother's death was quite sudden. One day, full of life and dancing through the hallways with her father, then suddenly cold and pale, as if she had been filled with ice.

After her mother's passing, Elle became the daughter her father needed her to be: quiet, mannerly, and most of all, respectable. She grew her long blonde curls out and kept them tamed; she locked away the small knives her mother had given her for her 17th birthday that she used to hurl at imaginary foes; she brushed off the dirt that would settle at the hems of her dresses. She became quite the respectable hobbit indeed.

Hiding her Tookish nature did nothing to stifle it. It grew as time passed, but became easier to ignore. Her father passed quietly, assured that his lovely daughter would be able to hide her Took blood well enough to find someone who could take care of her. He hated that she hid herself from the world to make him happy, but as she had so often reassured him, 'You always sacrificed for me, Papa. Let me do this for you.'

So he let her. And her tear-stained face was the last that he saw, before he was called home.

Elle sat through all the condolences, the 'I'm sorry for your loss' es, the pats on the back and the comforting hugs. She thanked every hobbit for their sympathy, and saw them out the door with a sad smile on her face.

Only when all the guests had gone, and her table was filled with cheeses and breads and soups and casseroles did she let herself slide down the wall, run her fingers through her loose curls, bury her face in her hands, and sob.

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**Please tell me what you think. I am really nervous about this one, mostly because there are so many other Fem!Bilbo fanfics. I hope that mine stands out enough, because there are some really amazing ones out there. **

**Let me know!**


	2. Finally

_**CHAPTER 1**_

The sun warmed her cheeks soothingly. The dirt cooled her roughened soles, and the gentle breeze wrapped around her, making tendrils of her blonde hair twist.

It was these little comforts she held onto to prevent her from saying something brash, something that she would utterly regret later.

The man with the scraggly beard and the grey clothes observed her thoughtfully, his grey-blue eyes twinkling kindly. He shifted his hands to hold his wooden staff nearer to the tip.

"Can I help you?" She asked, not rudely, but certainly not politely. She had had a rough enough day already, and she did not need such a positively odd visitor staring at her.

"That remains to be seen, my dear." He murmured, narrowing his eyes and studying her closer. Elle bit the insides of her cheek, resisting the urge to tell him something quite ill-mannered and unlady-like, something that would have her neighbors cringing and her father rolling over in his grave. Then the grey man continued, "I'm looking for someone to share an adventure."

She stared back for a few seconds more, now more startled than frustrated. "A what?"

The grey man sighed goodnaturedly. "An adventure, my dear. To lands far away, the likes of which you have never seen, but surely dreamt about."

A thrill ran through her, igniting a flame in her veins.

"An adventure?" She asked, eyes widening. "I don't expect anybody on this side of the river would care for an adventure. I've heard they make you late for dinner."

"That's why I came to you, my dear. Your mother being who she was, and you being who you are, I thought you'd rather enjoy it." His pale eyebrows furrowed. "I can see that you've changed, Elle Baggins, and I hope that it was for the better."

Elle opened her mouth, then closed it, not sure what to say. She was quite sure she had never seen this man before, so how did he know her name? Taking a deep breath and closing her eyes briefly, she asked, "I'm sorry, do I - do I know you?"

The grey man's eyes narrowed again, this time in agitation. "You most certainly know my name, but maybe you do not remember that I belong to it. You were but a young child when I last visited, after all."

She pondered that for a few moments, honestly trying to remember if and where she had seen this tall, rather mysterious man before. Finally, she shook her head regretfully, smiling in apology. "I'm sorry. I've been told that I have a terrible memory."

The man sighed and nodded his head in resignation. "I am Gandalf, my dear, and Gandalf means . . . me."

It only took seconds this time to correctly place the man, and when she did, a large grin spread across her face. "Gandalf the Grey! You always had such lovely fireworks at Old Took's parties! And wonderful stories to match."

Gandalf's face crinkled as he watched her face light up. A large grin, too big for her small, round face, illuminated her dark brown eyes, sparkling with intelligence and a thirst for knowledge and adventure. She would do well, he decided. Very well indeed.

"I am glad you remember me, my dear Elle." After studying her intently for a few seconds longer, he stamped his staff on the path, nodding his head. "I have decided. It will be good for you, and most amusing for me."

Elle cocked her head to the side, folding her hands in front of her. "What will?" She asked hesitantly.

"The adventure." Gandalf smiled kindly at her.

Elle looked up at him, eyes widening and her hands fiddling with the long sleeves of her dress. "You want me to go on an adventure with you?"

"Well, yes." Gandalf agreed. Elle inhaled deeply, the sweet scent of her hydrangeas reminding her of the times she'd sit outside on the bench and watch her father garden as her mother read a book besides her.

She thought of her comforts of home, of the books stacked precariously in and around the comfortable chairs by the fireplace. She compared the ease she felt in her home to the excitement she found exploring.

"My dear Elle, I will have to take my leave. I must inform the others." Gandalf interrupted her musings. "May I come back later this evening?"

Elle blinked at him, startled. "Of course you may! I was rather hoping you might." She added, smiling at him. "I'm quite eager to hear more of your lovely tales."

Gandalf's eyes crinkled as he smiled back. "Of course, my dear. I suggest you make extra of those delightful scones your mother used to make." He winked at her, shifting his staff upon the dusty ground.

"Why?"

"My dear, travelling is a very exhausting and hungry business. Not to mention that the company is a perpetually hungry lot."

"Alright, then. Does some stew sound good as well?"

"As long as there is plenty, that will be fine." Gandalf assured her, tucking his hand into his robes.

Elle smiled brightly. "I'd better get started. Good morning!" She bade him good-bye and retreated back up the steps of her home, pausing only to give Gandalf one last, childish grin before retreating into the coolness of her Hobbit-hole.

Dead bolting it behind her, Elle leaned against the door and stared down the hallway. An adventure? To where, and doing what? She sighed, and brushed a few stray strands of hair behind her ear.

Scraping sounds reached her ears, and she paused. Her nose wrinkling in confusion, she pressed her ear against the door.

Elle darted to the window to better see what exactly Gandalf was doing. Her breath fogged up the glass as she leaned near it, peering out carefully.

Gandalf straightened, and, with no warning, bent down and peered through the window, his kind grey eyes magnified.

Elle stumbled back from the window, tripping over a step as she slid into the hall, out of view from Gandalf.

After calming her breath and screwing up her courage, she peered out again, relieved to find that he was gone.

Placing one hand over her heart and shaking her head in exasperation, she set off to start cooking for the hungry lot Gandalf had said to expect.

Out the window, she could see Gandalf retreating down the steps, humming to himself. He shut the gate securely behind himself, and rounding the corner.

Really, her? On an adventure?

Elle giggled and shook her head.

_Finally._

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**So, here is the first chapter. The next one should have the dwarves in it.**

**Tell me what you think so far!**

**Thanks to koryandrs, Guest and MissHikaHaru for reviewing!(Is this soon enough for you, my dear Lizzie? ;))**

**Thanks to VanessaAndEllieTheVamps, LatinBookReader, kali yugah, jazica, Loyal-LeoBlade, and MissHikaHaru for favoriting/following!**

**Next time: Dwalin arrives and he wasn't expecting such a tiny lass to answer that door. But Fili and Kili are delighted and decide to befriend the little hobbit. **


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